Compact discs, or “CD”'s as they are commonly called, carry digital information such as sound and music recordings and more recently movies and video games with accompanying sound known as Digital Video Discs (hereinafter collectively “DVDs”). The DVDs replace popular video cassettes which are typically played on video cassette recorders (VCRs), and more commonly may be played on personal computers.
DVDs are generally sold to consumers in “jewel boxes” which are rigid plastic containers which carry both the DVD and accompanying graphics which identify the particular movie, video game or program contained on the DVD. The jewel boxes are bulky, difficult to store and are not conveniently opened or closed to remove the DVD. Furthermore, the graphics sold in association with the DVDs are oversized and generally resemble the size and shape of video cassettes as apposed to the width and length of the DVD. That is, the graphics are generally much longer than the DVD and additionally slightly wider. Thus, storing the DVD in a form of flexible, lightweight storage sleeve and the corresponding graphics in a sleeve with equal sized pockets is problematic.
Although lightweight, flexible storage sleeves which are designed specifically for CD's are known in the art, these devices are not designed to hold the larger graphics sold in association with DVDS. Further, if a sleeve is manufactured which is compatible in length and width for the DVD graphics, the DVD pocket which is designed for holding the DVD will generally be oversized and not overly useful.
Recent innovations have allowed DVD's and their associated longer graphics pages to be stored in a sleeve with two sizes of pockets, as disclosed in the Applicant's U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,241,086, 6,446,800 and 6,267,234 which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. However, these inventions do not allow for the multiple storage of DVD's in a “stacking” types of orientation, which provides greater storage capacity.
Thus, a lightweight, flexible storage sleeve for storing DVDs is needed which can additionally store the oversized graphics associated with the DVD in a similarly sized pocket, and additionally to allow the “stacking” of multiple DVD's on a storage sleeve. Further, the manufacturing of the DVD sleeve must be consistent with generally recognized sleeve manufacturing processes to maintain the low cost benefits associated with flexible storage sleeves as opposed to rigid plastic jewel boxes.